About Us

Mary L. Reha, EA, one of Arete’s co-founders, brings more than 30 years of tax and accounting experience to the table. Her qualifications include: Enrolled Agent, QuickBooks Certified ProAdvisor, Certified Public Bookkeeper and PTIN registered tax preparer. With her decades of expertise in finances, Mary ensures Arete lives up to its name, striving for excellence in all the company does. After running her own tax and accounting firm, MLR, since 2014, Mary merged the business with Edwin “Ted” R. Ashton, Esq.’s law firm to create Arete in 2021. During her time running MLR, Mary gained more than 2,000 individual clients and 500 businesses, offering a unique and personal approach. Mary has called the West Valley home for almost 20 years, where she resides with her husband. She also has two daughters, a son-in-law and a grandson. She enjoys cooking, spending time with her family and traveling.

Edwin “Ted” R. Ashton, a longtime Phoenix attorney, graduated with a degree in Business

Finance in 2003. After successfully running a small company for several years, he went back to law school, graduating with high honors from the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law in 2011. Upon graduation, he moved with his family to the Phoenix metro area’s West Valley to begin his legal career. He began his own law practice after working for more than five years at a law firm there, where his practice focused on commercial and business law, trust and estate planning, and real estate law. After years of referring clients back and forth, Ted and Mary began the process of forming Arete Financial Solutions. Ted was first introduced to the “Arete” way of life while listening to an audio book about Alexander the Great. He was deeply impacted by how one word symbolized the Greek concept of “Striving for Excellence” in all areas of life. Arete became the perfect name for Ted and Mary’s new company, as it espoused his personal mantra of being the best version of himself in all that he does. Ted married his high school sweetheart more than 20 years ago, and since then the couple has had four sons. When not working in his legal practice, Ted enjoys athletics, particularly soccer, spending time with his family, and volunteering in his community and church.

Bervolynn is a registered PTIN tax preparer who has been preparing taxes since 2007. She joined our team in 2016, and she has truly grown with our company. She is now our lead accountant, managing our largest bookkeeping accounts and accounting staff.

Stephanie has more than 15 years of experience preparing taxes. She takes care of the highest volume of tax clients in our firm and manages all tax preparation and audit assistance cases. Since joining our firm in 2017, Stephanie has been put in charge of our entire tax department. She is highly experienced in OIC tax submission and IRS representation.

Amy began her tax preparation career in 2004 with H&R Block. She joined our team in 2017. During her time with us, she has enjoyed growing her tax and accounting knowledge in order to assist her clients to the best of her abilities.

Alicia started with us in 2018 after 10 years managing an H&R Block location. Since her employment began with Arete’s predecessor, MLR, she gained her Enrolled Agent certification and is now a Certifying Acceptance Agent with the IRS for ITIN applications. Alicia also is the lead instructor for our continued education classes for tax preparers.

Jessie started at our firm in 2018 as a front desk receptionist and is now one of our top accountants. She takes care of the highest volume of accounting clients, and she continually grows her tax clientele.

Courtney began as an intern at our firm in 2018 when she was completing her BS in accounting from Grand Canyon University. She is in the process of completing her CPA exam, as well as taking care of a large number of accounting and tax clients. She also supports everyone else on our team with her accounting knowledge and skills.

Ebony just started at our firm in 2021 and has proven to be an incredible asset. She has a BS in accounting from the University of Phoenix and has approximately 5 years of experience providing bookkeeping services to clients from multiple firms.

Jason graduated in 2017 with a Bachelors in Accounting and has more than 10 years of experience preparing taxes. In 2014 he completed the courses and testing to become an Enrolled Agent to further his knowledge and skill set in the field.